Rev. 02/15/03
The Big Island
01/24/03 -
01/28/03
Aloha everyone:
In
late January we ventured off Oahu to the island of Hawai'i or the "Big Island"
as it is known locally. We were there for four days and during that time
we had two full days of rain and two of off/on rain which hampered picture
taking a tad. Ce la vie. There are a lot of pictures here, so may take a
while to down load.
The
pictures that accompany this narrative were taken, for the most part on the
island of Hawai'i. The Big Island is famous for it's coffee (Kona), black
sand beaches, but above all volcanoes. Kilauea and Mauna Loa , two of the
worlds most active volcanos. They are located within Hawai'i Volcanoes National
Park and are still adding land to the island. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
are known as shield mountains because they resemble a warriors shield (the
first picture is of these two volcanos taken on approach to Hilo airport).
When
driving along crater rim road which circles the Kilauea caldera, one can
see many steam vents rising from the caldera floor and the surrounding area.
One
vent is putting forth steam loaded with sulfur (with the accompanying rotten
egg smell) that has turned the surrounding landscape yellow.
Two types of lava, pahoehoe and a'a, differ in appearance but are chemically a like. Pahoehoe has a ropey surface: it is hotter and contains more gas than the jagged and "clinkery" a'a. (brochure-National Park service). One of the pictures shows pahoehoe that coiled around a small tree: when the tree burned, a tree mold was left. The struggling ferns are just gaining a foothold in both types of lava 20-30 some years after the flow stopped. The area is very desolate – resembling a barren moon-scape. During one eruption pahoehoe cascaded off the cliff into the ocean and formed an arch as it cooled.
The 9/2/02
pahoehoe lava flow, with the yellow markers, is the route to the eruption
viewing area. For best viewing this route is done well after the sun
sets so it is a bit tricky keeping the markers in the light of your flash
light. We were very fortunate to see the glow from Pu'uO'o vent (source
of the latest eruption), the lava on the hillside and an absolutely spectacular
(red/orange) aerial display as the molten lava poured into the ocean and
was hit by cold sea water. We could even see the lava as it actually
went into the ocean. Unfortunately, neither digital camera captured
any of the many, many shots we both took that night. It was most
frustrating especially when both cameras worked well before and after our
night visit to the site – guess Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of
volcanoes doesn't like to have her picture taken.
We
went back the next day to capture a picture of the "laze plume" where the
lava actually hits the ocean. While beautiful to see, the plume is
actually very deadly as it contains hydrochloric acid as well as glass particles
and of course molten lava. Also pictured is the lava bench (very unstable)
and newly forming black lava beach. The most famous (of post card fame)
black sand beach is gone – covered by lava.
On Friday, Feb 14, 2003 lava flowed over the area with the yellow markers,
and the road where we parked the car. The lava bench pictured collapsed
– about 18 acres of new land disappeared over night – and the newly
forming black sand beach has disappeared once more. The ranger station
was moved a mile or more down the road to the sea arch area and from latest
reports the flow is about half a mile from the arch. Petroglyphs near the
new flow are in danger of being devoured by Pele – an ever changing
landscape.
Also pictured are Banyan Tree Road in Hilo (each of the many trees was planted by a famous person eg Churchill, Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart etc.), and the 242 ft Akaka Falls (just outside Hilo).
On
the Kona side of the island the hillsides were covered with coffee plants
in full bloom – one of the benefits of the many days of rain we brought
with us. The plants are in bloom for only 3 days – so we consider ourselves
most fortunate to have seen them. We had plenty of coffee tasting that
day – a real caffeine
high.
Along our route we came across ancient petroglyphs from a somewhat male oriented society.
Pu'uhonua,
south of Kona, was an ancient place of refuge for defeated warriors or those
who violated the kapu, or sacred laws.
From there we drove down to South Point, the southern most tip of the US. There that we saw whales cavorting along the rip current formed by the two converging currents at the point. It was by far the largest pod of whale we'd ever seen.
During
this part of the trip we also saw a number of sea turtles up on the beach,
one (on another black sand beach on the Kona side of the island) appeared
to be nesting.
The last day of the trip we returned to Crater Rim Road to view Kilauea caldera (rain storm produced a beautiful rainbow); Halemaumau crater (which is a sacred siteb). Spotted the endangered Nene, Hawaiian goose – sometimes gets a bit of food from the native offerings. We decided to get a closer look at Pu'uO'o vent so we hiked for over an hour over lava to get the shot of the vent. I'm standing by a lava mold, all that is left of a tree.
An interesting trip and want to return to see what we missed.
This message would not be complete without Kung Hee Fat Choy (Happy Chinese New Year). Just had to see lion dance on poles. Two young men, dressed in a lion costume, climb the different leveled poles – the top pole is about eight feet high. At the top the "head man" stands on the thighs of the "rear" man. Then in one sweeping motion bends over to pick up something in it's "mouth" that was taped to the top of the stand, then leans way over to look at the kids below. Great agility and strength, and something only the young can do. Fireworks were very much a part of the celebration.
That's all for now. Keep in touch. Liz
All 
